Lord Shenxiu
Chapter 36 Treasure

Chapter 36: Chapter 36 Treasure

Thud, thud!

On the official road, several horses galloped fiercely.

Zhong Shenxiu took the lead, with Huang Xie, Er Ha, and Su Tang alongside.

As the Evil Slaying Deputy Envoy, whose duty it was to inspect the four corners and suppress evil spirits, it also served as an excuse for mixing public with private interests.

Originally, Zhong Shenxiu could have gone treasure hunting alone, more inconspicuously, but after some thought, he decided to bring others along.

One reason was to train and show trust, and the second was to test them.

Facing such a treasure, it was normal to be tempted. It was better to see someone’s true colors early on than during a major event when they might turn traitor.

Therefore, Zhong Shenxiu resolved that once he brought Su Tang along and returned to purchase land and houses, he would heavily employ people from the Su Family to see what they were made of.

Even if they embezzled something, he didn’t care.

The more they did so, the more the favor between them would be consumed, and when he felt his duties were fulfilled, he could leave anytime without a backward glance.

"We’re here. This is the third location, Three-pronged Mountain, famous for its triple peak,"

Huang Xie pointed at a nearby hill and said with a smile.

Zhong Shenxiu looked at the landmark that overlapped with a memory in his mind and nodded before dismounting.

Behind him, Huang Xie and the others followed, carrying shovels and other tools, all with somewhat gloomy expressions.

In the recent days, Zhong Shenxiu had led them hither and thither; upon reaching a site, they would start digging.

They had to dig three zhang deep—around ten meters!

But so far... not even a hair had been found.

Even Huang Xie was completely befuddled by their current endeavor.

"We found it."

Zhong Shenxiu didn’t mind these details and went straight up the mountain like an old horse knowing the way, finding a cave.

"Let’s dig at the entrance of the cave first,"

he pondered, then instructed.

"This seems to be a wild animal’s den,"

Huang Xie sniffed the ground and said to Er Ha, "There’s nothing in the cave for the moment, it might be out hunting. Let’s get to work quickly!"

Er Ha, with a bitter face, swung his hoe, and Su Tang, although unsure of what his cousin intended to do, had no choice but to follow.

The three of them set to work and quickly dug down a zhang deep, more than three meters. Then, Er Ha’s hoe uncovered a skull, which he hastily tossed aside in fright.

"It is indeed here."

Zhong Shenxiu nodded, knowing these were the remains of laborers who had been silenced.

He chuckled and took the lead with a torch in hand, entering the cave.

As for magical formations and traps, that was overthinking things.

The Felix Family in those days was not a wealthy family; after all, they had only just established their rule, and the construction of the treasure trove was mostly reliant on manpower.

Besides, after killing to keep secrets and randomly burying bodies, secrecy was easily maintained.

Setting up traps or magic formations, on the other hand, would risk exposing flaws.

Furthermore, those kinds of magic formations that automatically update and maintain themselves, with hidden functions that last for centuries—the Felix Family genuinely couldn’t set those up; that was something the powerful western nations might do.

A foul stench wafted through the cave. Zhong Shenxiu waved it away and found a spot: "Here, let’s dig three zhang first."

"Alright."

Su Tang readily agreed and called Er Ha over to help with the digging.

However, Zhong Shenxiu felt something and stepped outside the cave.

At that moment, a black bear spotted him, rose on its hind legs, and charged at him with a roar.

"Delivery right to my door,"

Zhong Shenxiu exclaimed with joy, stepping forward and raising his hand to block the bear’s paw.

His Xuanwu Hundred Refinement Armor and Mang Bull Hard Skin Skill were both perfected; he was clad in protective skills so robust, he could leave any Innate Expert vomiting meat!

A mere wild beast truly didn’t register as a threat in his eyes.

Staring at the human-shaped creature casually catching its paw, the black bear roared in anger, ready to bite.

The next moment, a fist imbued with the massive strength of a dragon elephant pounded down on its head, and that was the last thing it knew.

"This bear skin is worth something."

Huang Xie eagerly stepped forward to skin it, telling Zhong Shenxiu.

"Sir, we found something inside!"

As Huang Xie was handling the black bear, Su Tang ran out, excitement written all over his face.

"Oh?"

Zhong Shenxiu wasn’t particularly surprised as he watched Su Tang and Er Ha carry out a decayed wooden chest.

’Just a portion of the treasure scattered by an Earl’s Country, and it’s treated like pirate treasure,’

he criticized inwardly, motioning others to back away, then broke the half-rotten lock himself.

With a snap, the chest opened and seemed on the verge of falling apart.

There wasn’t much inside the chest, but the bottom was lined with a thick layer of silver coins, and on top of that lay two small cases.

Upon opening them, one held hundreds of Gold Coins stamped with the portrait of a man whose nose was prominent and who wore a crown of olive leaves.

The other case contained several magic artifacts, most of which had lost their luster.

These were equivalent to low-grade Magic Artifacts, and it was normal for them to deteriorate from long neglect; now they were only worth their material cost.

"This is a treasure map that I forced from a captured Felix Family scion; it’s clean, so count it up..."

Zhong Shenxiu glanced at the box of magical tools and picked up one of the brooches.

This brooch was adorned with a large Ruby, its magic long dim, and the reverse side bore a line written in Western cursive.

Zhong Shenxiu deciphered it—it was a phrase, "For the glory of the Medici Family!"

"The Medici Family, that seems to be a major family in the West. Was the legendary founding Earl a distant relation of theirs?"

He tapped his head, recalling a snippet of memory, "But it’s none of my business. I wonder if I can piece together a Magic Artifact with these."

Western magic items were quite different from Eastern Magic Artifacts, although some materials were still usable.

The last time, he had obtained a scrap of a Magic Artifact refinement method from someone named Wu Tong, and now he was intrigued.

At that moment, Huang Xie had finished tallying their haul, his face flush with excitement: "Sir, we’ve totaled five hundred and twenty-seven Gold Coins and six thousand three hundred and eighty-seven Silver Coins. These are Western currencies, smaller than our White Emperor Coins, and the Gold Coins need to be melted down before use. However, even by conservative estimates, this is equivalent to tens of thousands of White Emperor Coins."

’Poor as dirt!’

Zhong Shenxiu inwardly scorned the Earl. Even so, as the Evil Slaying Deputy Envoy of the Ninth Grade, his own monthly salary was but ten White Emperor Coins, which was considered a generous remuneration.

He looked at the three men, pocketed the two small cases, and said with a smile, "The silver coins here, each of you take a hundred for yourselves now, and we’ll sort out the rest when we return."